Although results from 2005 activities have finally slowed to a trickle, don't equate this lack of news with lack of activity. Behind the holiday season façade there is a mad scramble going on with companies already jockeying for personnel, drill rigs, helicopters, geochemical services, field camps and all manner of field supplies. While wishing each other season's greetings over a cup of grog, competitors are quietly trying to steal the jump on each other to get the best resources for their projects.

Drilling demand is one way of measuring this competition: a rough tally of companies who already have indicated what level of drilling they are planning to undertake in 2006 brings us to something in excess of 400,000 feet (that's about 122,000 meters for those of you who are English-system challenged and 66,666 fathoms for those of you with a nautical bent). Now mind you, some of these numbers may change (read "decrease") but they represent only a small fraction of the properties where drilling is planned but where total footage numbers have not been announced.

Long story short, the drilling already released is nearly as much as the 451,000 feet of hard rock drilling reported for all of 2004. So down your cup of cheer, ring in the New Year and then strap on your fire-resistant Carharts, 2006 is going to be a hot one!

Western Alaska

St. Andrew Goldfields submitted its Plan of Operations, Environmental Assessment and draft Solid Waste Disposal Permits in late October to restart the Nixon Fork copper-gold mine near McGrath. The public comment period closed in late November and subject to the receipt of these permits, it is anticipated that Nixon Fork will commence operations in the mid-2006.

An underground diamond drilling program is planned for early 2006 at the Mystery Creek deposit. This program is intended to delineate and confirm additional mineralization that will provide new reserves for the operation. In addition the company indicated that summer 2005 exploration programs revealed new targets that will require follow-up work in the future.

Eastern Interior

Freegold Ventures has received preliminary analyses from its trenching program on its Golden Summit project in the Fairbanks District. Prior to release of trench results, the company said it is having supplemental metallic screen analysis completed on 60 of the channel samples and 21 of the grab samples as a means of determining the nugget effect from the preliminary assays. Final assays from the trenching program will be reported in January.

Tri-Valley Corp. has acquired all of the royalty and carried working interests of the underlying mineral leases that are part of its 120 square mile Richardson gold property near Delta Junction.

Over the past three years approximately 480,000 unregistered restricted common shares of Tri-Valley valued at $3,716,500 were used to acquire several layers of royalty interests from underlying claim owners, various financing parties and the estate of John Mitchell, the geologist who originally brought the property to Tri-Valley in the 1980s.

With the buyout of these royalties, Tri-Valley will transfer the property to its wholly owned subsidiary, Select Resources Corp. Analytical results are pending on the drilling program recently completed by Select Resources on the Democrat prospect.

Alaska Range

Golconda Resources Ltd. announced that as a follow-up to the 2005 drilling completed on their Shulin Lake diamond project, three six-foot deep pits were dug within the drill area and a series of 20-pound samples were collected. Although these samples were taken from glacial till, several diamond indicator minerals were observed, including green chrome diopside, kyanite, sapphire, rutile and anatase. These minerals also were observed in previous samples that contained micro-diamonds.

The company believes the area sampled may be near the pipe which produced the diamonds and indicator minerals found in the past. Bulldozer and backhoe trenching are planned for February 2006. The glacial overburden is estimated to be only a few meters thick in this area. Follow-up diamond drilling will also be conducted to obtain samples from a greater depth.

Northern Alaska

Novagold Resources announced results from its Ambler volcanogenic massive sulfide project in the southern Brooks Range. Modeling of the Arctic deposit (inferred resource of 36.3 million tonnes of 4.0 percent copper, 5.5 percent zinc, 0.8 percent lead, 0.7 grams of gold per tonne and 54.9 grams of silver per tonne) showed that mineralization was present on two mineralized horizons along both limbs of a relatively flat-lying fold opening to the southeast.

The mineralized horizons in the upper limb of the fold are exposed at surface. Mineralization along the lower limb of the fold remains relatively unexplored and was this year's drilling. Drilling in 2005 totaled just over 3,000 meters in nine holes and has extended known mineralization along the southern and eastern edges of the deposit.

Significant drill results include hole AR05-93 which intersected 9.9 meters of 4.8 percent Cu, 0.87 grams of gold per tonne, 54.5 grams of silver per tonne, 0.1 percent Pb and 3.3 percent Zn or 7.5 percent copper equivalent. Hole AR05-97 intersected 4.4 meters of 5.6 percent Cu, 0.63 grams of gold per tonne, 58.2 grams of silver per tonne, 0.1 percent Pb and 2.1 percent Zn or 7.7 percent copper equivalent.

Additional exploration was conducted in 2005 outside of the main Arctic deposit area and included evaluation of past data along with new mapping, sampling and ground geophysics away from the Arctic deposit.

Reinterpretation of past airborne electromagnetic and magnetic data in conjunction with mapping and ground geophysics in 2005 identified a significant electromagnetic geophysical anomaly of similar magnitude and intensity as that over the Arctic deposit.

The anomaly lies roughly 3 kilometers west of the Arctic deposit in the same stratigraphic position as the mineralization defined at Arctic.

This anomaly will be a focus of the 2006 exploration program.

The company also acquired 381 additional State of Alaska mining claims totaling 57,000 acres, bringing its total land holdings in the Ambler district to over 92,500 acres.

Little Squaw Gold Mining Co. has raised approximately $1 million for 2006 exploration of its Little Squaw gold project in the Chandalar District. Additional funding is being sought to fully fund the company's planned $1.7 million drilling program consisting of 31 holes on 11 targets.

Silverado Gold Mines has installed a new portal to access the Swede Channel at its Nolan placer gold project in the Brooks Range. Previous bulk sampling on the Swede Channel during 1998-1999 yielded 623 ounces of gold from 7,625 cubic yards of gravel or 0.08 ounces of gold per cubic yard, including a 14.06 troy ounce nugget. The drift is targeted at a drill hole (about 250 feet beyond the 1998-99 bulk sample site) which produced a high grade sample valued at 0.22 ounces of gold per cubic yard. Drifting is scheduled for completion by early March.

Southeastern Alaska

Coeur d'Alene Mines said the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers suspended its previously issued tailings disposal permit at its Kensington gold mine north of Juneau. The company indicated that work is continuing at the mine, outside of federal wetlands, as it waits for the Corps of Engineers to review the disputed permit. The corps' suspension was a result of a lawsuit filed by several environmental groups, including Juneau-based Southeast Alaska Conservation Council.

Niblack Mining Corp. announced results from its seven-hole drilling program on the Lookout zone of its Niblack volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit in southeast Alaska.

Drill hole LO-159 intersected three distinct massive sulfide horizons separated by zones of disseminated and stringer sulfide mineralization. The entire interval totals 225.3 feet grading 2.39 grams of gold per tonne, 47 grams of silver per tonne, 1.67 percent copper and 4.05 percent zinc. Higher grade intervals within this mineralized zone include 46.3 feet of 4.55 grams of gold per tonne, 71 grams of silver per tonne, 3.05 percent copper and 7.79 percent zinc and 21.1 feet grading 1.86 grams of gold per tonne, 88 grams of silver per tonne, 4.03 percent copper and 13.28 percent zinc.

The dip extent of this mineralization is at least 500 feet and remains open and untested further down plunge. Continuous intersections of combined oxide and sulfide mineralization in other holes range in width from 86.4 to 145.6 feet and average 4.96 grams of gold per tonne equivalent.

The property was last explored in 1997 when it was determined that the Lookout zone contained at least four different massive sulfide horizons stacked vertically above one another within a 300 foot thick section of the Lookout Rhyolite. The Lookout zone is hosted on the overturned limb of a large southwest plunging syncline. Sulfide lenses are typically long linear bodies, and have been traced down plunge for a distance of 1,600 feet. Additional drilling is planned for 2006.

Author Bio

Curt is President of Avalon Development Corporation, a mineral exploration consulting firm based in Fairbanks, Alaska. He is a U.S. Certified Professional Geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists (CPG #6901) and is a licensed geologist in the State of Alaska (Lic. # AA 159).

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 907-457-5159
• Contact Curt Freeman